Two more bodies found in inquiry into German crossbow deaths
Two more bodies have been found during investigations into the deaths of three people discovered in a Bavarian hotel room who had been killed by crossbow bolts.
Two women were found dead at a flat in Wittingen, northern Germany, belonging to one of three people who died at a hotel 400 miles away in Passau, near the Austrian border, on Saturday.
Police said they did not immediately have details of the identity of two additional women found in a search of the flat and what happened to them. Police confirmed the pair had not been killed by crossbow bolts, but confirmed they were investigating links to the Passau deaths.
The discovery added a new level of mystery to that case. Investigators were still trying on Monday to determine the relationship between the three people whose were found shot with crossbow bolts.
A Bavarian police spokesman, Stefan Gaisbauer, said earlier on Monday there were no indications that anyone other than those found dead were involved but that it is not yet clear what happened.
“We assume that no other people were involved in the deaths of the three,” he said, adding that autopsy results were expected Tuesday.
The dead, a 53-year-old man and two women aged 33 and 30, are all German citizens. The man and the older woman are from the village of Berod in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in south-western Germany, while the younger woman was last registered as living in Wittingen. Police did not release any further details.
The bodies were found at the hotel in Passau on Saturday morning by an employee who opened the door to their three-bed room when they didn’t respond to repeated knocking.
The man and the older woman were lying together in bed, while the younger woman was lying on the floor.
Passau prosecutor Walter Feiler told the German news agency dpa later Monday that the couple on the bed had several bolts in them and were found holding hands. The woman on the floor had one bolt in her body.
Two crossbows were found Saturday. Police said Monday they had found a third, unused crossbow inside a bag.
Crossbows can be purchased legally in Germany by anyone aged 18 or older.